Rafael Benítez, somewhat conspicuously, refused to join in the chorus of disapproval directed towards Jonjo Shelvey. By contrast, Alan Shearer did not – and with every justification. The Newcastle midfielder had just, after all, played a large part in ruining his birthday.

While the Spaniard tiptoed around Shelvey’s latest moment of madness, Shearer was not so diplomatic, going in with both feet, rather as the stand-in Newcastle captain had in his needless assault on Dele Alli which irrevocably turned the tide against his side on a chastening re-introduction to the Premier League.

Breaking off from celebrations to mark turning 47, Shearer, Newcastle’s all-time leading scorer, took to Twitter to express the feelings of the majority of the 52,000 inside St James’ Park. “That is just pathetic, Jonjo Shelvey.” After a case of new season, same old Shelvey, it was an apt description.

The stand-in Newcastle captain’s annual moment of madness arrived early, as a notoriously short-fused individual received a straight red card for treading on a prone Alli shortly after half-time, paving the way for a comfortable victory for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

The hosts had coped comfortably enough with a largely lacklustre Tottenham display up until that pivotal 49th minute, but the numerical disparity soon told. Pochettino introduced Son Heung-Min to increase his attacking options, and almost immediately Alli, unmarked at the far post after recovering from Shelvey’s studs on his ankle, stretched to volley home a cross from Christian Eriksen just after the hour mark, after which the outcome was never in doubt.

Dele Alli opens the scoring for SpursCredit:
GETTY IMAGES

The lack of protest from Shelvey suggested he knew his fate when, in attempting to pick Alli up as the England midfielder lay on the St James’ Park turf after conceding a free-kick, he inexplicably but very deliberately trod on his opponent under the nose of referee Andre Marriner, who was left with little option but to brandish red.

Having earned two red cards last season, one of them rescinded on appeal, Shelvey clearly is not learning from his mistakes. His departure merely added insult to injury, with Benítez forced to replace injured defensive duo Paul Dummett and Florian Lejeune before half-time, the Spaniard’s suggestion that Harry Kane’s challenge on his French debutant also merited red no doubt accompanied by the desperate sound of clutching at straws.

The potential absence of the Newcastle pair “for maybe two weeks or more” adds further urgency to the manager’s on-going efforts to strengthen a squad whose limitations were ruthlessly exploited by a Tottenham side. Watching from the directors’ box, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley must surely realise he has to spend a significant amount of money before the end of the month unless he wishes to risk an immediate return to the second tier.

In Shelvey’s absence Tottenham took Benítez's tiring troops through almost three-quarters of an hour of chase-ball purgatory. They battled gamely but were never really in it. Ben Davies doubled the advantage from close range with 20 minutes remaining, nipping in ahead of Eriksen to thump the ball past Rob Elliot after some eye-catching approach play from Kane and Alli, who left the ground with his ankle in a protective boot, more a precautionary move than anything for Tottenham supporters to lose sleep over.

Spurs have been conspicuous by their absence from this summer’s transfer market, but for this 90-minute stroll, their failure to strengthen so far did not matter.

“Maybe, it’s an advantage not to have signed any players,” reflected Pochettino, able to see the funny side after such a comfortable afternoon. The Argentine was rather more serious when asked about his efforts to strengthen his squad. “For me, we need to sign some players before the end of the window,” he added. “It’s important to refresh the squad and create competition. It’s a 10-month slog and we’re involved in four competitions so we need more quality to keep the level that we want to show in every game.”

90 mins

Spurs are now passing the ball around the pitch, happy to just keep possession and see out the rest of the game. Wanyama puts the ball out for play by accident and that means Dembele comes off for Harry Winks. Who needs transfer signings when you have academy graduates, eh?

88 mins

The cross comes in... it's headed but drops to Clark just inside the area! This is a huge chance!!! And he's not put enough on the shot. He lifts the volley into Lloris' grasp - had he put his foot through that it would have flown into the back of the net. Newcastle showing real desire to get a goal back from this one.

87 mins

Newcastle have turned on the attacking style! They actually look dangerous at the moment and are playing really clever passes into the channels for runners to chase, throwing everyone forward. Mbemba gets into a right wing position to join in.

Davies is booked for chopping down a player on the touchline and Newcastle have a decent free-kick opportunity. Ritchie is good at sending these into the box.

85 mins

83 mins

Atsu runs at the defence, turns them and has people chasing him to the box... and shoots low at goal. Lloris can save easily but that was excellent from the Newcastle man. He's been their best player by far today.

80 mins

79 mins

Oocha! Spurs work the ball around the final third looking for an opening and the ball drops for Dier on teh edge of the box. He tries a bending, powerful Steven Gerrard-esque shot towards the top corner and wins a corner. Elliot catches that.

Spurs pressing high to stop Newcastle passing out from the back - something they do actually seem to be pretty good at. It's just lacking in attack for Benitez's team.

70 mins

Perez chips a long pass to Gayle, who runs into space and takes on Walker-Peters on the left wing, decides against trying to beat him for pace and waits for teammates to arrive. They do, Hayden crosses from the right... and it's a goal kick.

67 mins

Alli gets the ball on the left and walks with it, waiting for the challenge. Manquillo comes in and tackles hard, sending Alli to the floor. He's such a clever wee player and was looking for it. No free-kick this time though.

Newcastle are still doing alright here. With 11 men they were giving Spurs a good game.

One-way traffic at St. James' Park

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!

It's been coming. Newcastle are defending well but Spurs have that little bit of magic upfront needed to undo all the hard work and Dele Alli has broken the deadlock. Kane to Eriksen, who looks up and curls a superb pass into the box ahead of Alli's run. His finish is neat and doesn't give the goalkeeper a chance.

60 mins

Credit:
GETTY IMAGES

The other thing to note from that Shelvey incident is that Alli didn't even milk it. You've seen players roll around in pain when they haven't even been touched - Alli had all of Shelvey's weight forced down on his ankle and took a minute to absorb the pain before getting up. He likes a battle.

58 mins

Another Newcastle player is down hurt now. Perez slides into a challenge on Eriksen to stop him shooting from distance and is clipped by his own teammate. Spurs are closing in on the first goal now, Newcastle being held back in their own half.

Elliot goes into an aerial challenge with Sissoko and has come off worse, clutching his upper chest.

Sissoko is being taken off for Son. He applauds the crowd who loudly boo him.

52 mins

Spurs are on the counter-attack, Ritchie goes in hard on Alli and the ref waves play on. That'll definitely be a yellow card. Newcastle are in danger of losing their heads here. They've targeted Alli but he's smarter than the average bear (that's a Yogi bear reference).

KICK-OFF 2

The Harry Kane tackle

Credit:
AFP

Now. I predict Spurs fans will be going "never a yellow card" and I reckon Graeme Souness will say that it wasn't even a foul. However, having watched that tackle back a few times... if it had happened right in front of the referee I wouldn't have been shocked to see red. In the same way that Gary Cahill flew into a challenge yesterday and was way too aggressive in his attempt to win the ball, Kane's was dangerous.

Yes, it's a "contact sport" and whatever other outdated things people want to say about it. But if you were playing Sunday League football and someone came charging in from behind and launched into a scissor kick tackle, trapping your standing leg and going through you to win the ball, do you think you'd be happy about it?

I don't think there was anything malicious in Kane's attempt to win the ball but he definitely went in with a little too much aggression there and may have caused damage to Lejeune, who had to be substituted. Without wanting to jump to big statements, can you imagine him getting away with a yellow for that in La Liga? Or the Champions League? In the Premier League it's a yellow most days of the week and a red when the referee's looking for it.

45 mins

Perez controls a difficult bouncing ball, flicks it forward and takes on three players at once. Unsurprisingly he doesn't manage to do it and Spurs win possession, before giving it away rather quickly. They've not quite been at it today and need more urgency and drive about their play to cause this defence problems. Benitez has Newcastle really well organisd at the back.

43 mins

40 mins

The game has slowed down a bit now. Newcastle taking their time over throw-ins and the like, probably looking forward to getting in at half-time at 0-0. Will they get there? Spurs are going on an adventure, Eriksen is popping up everywhere at the moment.

37 mins

This hasn't been an ideal half for Newcastle substitutions. Benitez has lost two first choice defenders to injury - both could potentially be medium term, especially if Lejeune has tweaked something in his ankle - and the wide players are having to work hard to counter-attack. This might be the kind of game Spurs win late on when Newcastle tire.

32 mins

Hayden can't control a ball thrown to him by Clark but he gets lucky and Newcastle keep the ball in the final third. Clark tries to dribble round his man, Perez tries some skill, Spurs counter. Kane goes in hard from behind on Lejeune.

How on earth Kane can claim that wasn't a booking is beyond me. Footballers are such odd creatures. He flew into a slide tackle from behind and might have really hurt the Newcastle defender here.

Time on ball (15 - 30 min)

29 mins

The corner goes short and Clark chips into the area but does it terribly and Lloris can just catch it in the air. Spurs sprint forward on the counter-attack and have men over but Newcastle block the space. Eriksen forces a shot through Lascelle's legs but it bends outwards and fizzes wide of the far post.

Atsu absolutely rockets down the left wing - where is Walker-Peters? - and pulls a low ball into the box. Dembele keeps having to cover for the young right-back and had a Newcastle striker been in the area, that was a certain goal.

Spurs are dominating the ball so far

26 mins

Newcastle are really trying to stretch the pitch and prevent Spurs being too narrow and denying space, but Spurs are also attacking through the middle of the pitch, which is why their team shape looks like that. Walker-Peters has done pretty well so far although he's caught out of position as Atsu wins a corner on the left wing.

24 mins

Eriksen curls a free-kick into the box but the header that follows ends up in Elliot's hands. Spurs are growing into this game. Dele Alli doesn't like a strong tackle from Lascelles who goes in hard on the midfielder to win a lose ball. It was a strong, aggressive challenge, much like many that Alli puts in on players himself. I can't see him letting this go. Yellow card for Alli to follow soon probably in a bit of revenge served red hot.

21 mins

18 mins

PENALTY! Is it?! Shelvey takes a quick free-kick and Gayle is in behind! Walker-Peters bundles him over and the referee blows his whistle... but it's for offside.

This is a pretty open game at the moment - Spurs are not the solid outfit we saw at the end of last season but they look dangerous on the counter-attack. We might see them come out of their shell a little bit after these opening 20 minutes.

Time on ball (0 - 15 min)

15 mins

Davies takes a Spurs corner but Sissoko knocks it out for a goal kick. Spurs keep up the pressure and win another corner, which is played short... and Eriksen crosses too close for Eliott, who gathers and takes his time.

More from Ashley

"It's not enough. It won't generate enough - it's Newcastle United. I am nowhere near wealthy enough in football now to compete with man City etc, not just them, a wealthy individual taking on the equivalent of countries. I cannot and I will not, yeh? If someone wants to come and take my seat and add a nought on the end, I will not stand in their way. The Newcastle fans and I will be together a bit longer yet.

"Let's hope we can do some stuff, give Rafa some building blocks over the coming years. It would be quite nice if we could, Rafa."

Mike Ashley interview

This is fascinating.

On why he bought the club:

"I think you have the ambition to do something and make it more than it was. Maybe if we didn't live for every Saturday for the game and had a three year plan, a five year plan, we could build something.

"I probably rushed in too early. The first thing was when we let Sam go, I was probably too keen to get involved and I was too naive to know how football worked."

What does he mean by that?

"People said whatever you do in an interview don't talk about changing the name of St James' Park. Well I'm here and I want to talk about it. I made an error. I should not have done that.

"At the start I was naive. In the middle I thought I was about to get my arms right, we had a manager on an eight year contract and then 18 months later the wheels came off.

"Sam Allardyce, I apologise to him, I was too hasty. I didn't know Alan Pardew before football at all, I was very unfair to Chris Hughton.

"Alan Shearer was one of the only people on this planet who could have kept Newcastle up and he did a fantastic job but luck didn't go our way. And then was he the right per

"Never say never Alan. If you're watching, who knows."

"It wasn't always easy for Kevin at the football club. We didn't have the structure around to support him. I will take the blame for that. So Kevin, sorry. I apologise."

The Danny Rose thing

Graeme Souness is on Rose's side when it comes to Spurs players not being paid as much as their Premier League rivals.

"If I was a big player & knew I was on less, I’d bang on the manager’s door. If you’re not going to give it to me, I’m off," he said. It's a tricky one for Spurs to navigate - Daniel Levy doesn't want to destroy the wage structure to pander to player demands as it sets a dangerous precedent, but worse than that is surely losing his best players. Soccernomics - an excellent book you should check out - made it explicitly clear that teams who pay the most wages are the most successful. It's not about the money spent on buying player, but the money spent on retaining the better ones.

Rafa Benitez wants a sofa, not a lamp

“I was expecting something in the summer and it didn’t happen,” he said. “Now I want to be sure of doing the right things to be a little better. We will see where we are at the end of August. The main thing is we have to stick ­together and move forward.

“I am not someone who says, ‘You have to do this because it’s me’. No, it’s because we have experience, we have been successful and we want to replicate this way to do things. If I am here and they pay me the salary that they pay me, it’s because they trust me. It’s because I have won something and we are doing things in a professional way.

“We are not demanding crazy things, we are demanding just to do things in the right way, like we did with Liverpool or with Chelsea or the other clubs where we have been.”

By Jove I want to play on this pitch

Kyle Walker-Peters

I mean... what are the odds on having two right backs, both called Kyle Walker? It's really such a massive coincidence, isn't it?

On FIFA 17 he's not particularly highly rated but their player evaluation isn't exactly on a par with Football Manager, who tend to get these things right. On FM17, Walker-Peters is a wonderkid - determined, quick to accelerate and seriously fast at full speed. Pochettino said he wasn't ready last week... how will he cope today?

This is vaguely Newcastle related

Harry Kane

Credit:
REUTERS

I know what you're thinking: 'was I right to put Harry Kane in my Fantasy Football team from the start of the season?'

He tends to have a bit of a slow start but since Spurs haven't changed anything at all over the summer, there's a fair chance he could just pick off where he left off. That Newcastle defence isn't exactly the greatest you'll see in the Premier League all season, though Shelvey and Hayden should provide a bit of cover for them. Width comes from Ritchie and Atsu so the full-backs might not ping forward as much Rafa Benitez would allow otherwise. It's important Newcastle don't get carried away by the noise of the crowd today - a draw would be a fantastic result.

Full-back DeAndre Yedlin will miss Newcastle's opening Premier League fixture against Tottenham on Sunday through injury.

The United States international could be sidelined for several weeks with a hamstring problem he sustained in pre-season.

Striker Dwight Gayle is fit after his own hamstring problem and manager Rafael Benitez otherwise has only a series of minor knocks with which to contend as he prepares to send out his team - which could include several of summer recruits Florian Lejeune, Javier Manquillo, Mikel Merino, Christian Atsu and Jacob Murphy - for the first time since their return to the top flight.

"Obviously, I said how I feel during this summer, but at the same time, I said that my commitment is 100 per cent with this team, this club in terms of trying to win from the first game until the last one.

"My ambition is to do well in every single game to get three points and see where we are in the table.

"I am not saying I am really pleased with everything because it's not true, but I am not saying that I will not do my best to be as high as possible in the table."

Danny Rose has apologised for his open interview this weekCredit:
Reuters

Mauricio Pochettino:

"Danny apologised to the club, chairman, manager, team-mates and fans. This was important and good," Pochettino said.

"Sometime as a player you are frustrated for different reasons. But the players are calm and the club is calm. I forgive him.

"It was his opinion and then he understood that maybe he needed to apologise to us, and that is very good for him and the club. For me it's not a big issue. Now we move on."

What are the odds?

Newcastle - 4/1

Tottenham - 4/6

Draw - 3/1

What's our prediction?

A meeting of two teams whose transfer activity - or lack of it - has alarmed supporters. Tottenham need a decent start tosuggest they are right not to have recruited during the summer, while Newcastle have not bought enough quality, according to manager Rafa Benitez. Newcastle are without DeAndre Yedlin and Dwight Gayle is a doubt. Erik Lamela, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier are missing for Tottenham. Prediction 0-2 Jason Mellor